4th YEAR WEB SAMPLE – NEW FORMAT

Exam Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

PART ONE: LANGUAGE

A. Rewrite these sentences without changing their meaning.

1. Catherine said, “The sequel to my novel is coming out in September.”

Catherine said ________________________________________ in September.

2. You can’t write on this website unless you are a registered user.

If you __________________________________, you can’t write on this website.

3. Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon when he was only fifteen.

Eragon was _________________________________ when he was only fifteen.

4. I think Eragon is much better than The Eyes of a King.

For
I think The Eyes of a King is not as _____________________________ Eragon. examiner’s
use only

5. When Paolini finished Eragon, he started writing Eldest immediately. 1. ___/2

2. ___/2
Paolini started writing Eldest as ________________________________ Eragon. 3. ___/2
4. ___/2
5. ___/2

Corrected by: Total marks in this exercise: ______/10

B. Complete the text with the correct tense or form of the verbs in brackets. Use modals, if
necessary.

The Eyes of a King

Do you enjoy 1(read) _______________ fantasy stories?
2
(you/ever/think) _______________ of writing one? Catherine
Banner started writing The Eyes of a King, her first novel, at
sixteen. She says, ‘I 3(write) _______________ my first book for
my mum when I was four. But much later, while I 4(write)
_______________ The Eyes of a King, I decided 5(become)
_______________ a professional writer.’
It took Catherine two years to complete her novel. One day, Catherine was
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invited to a book festival. There she met a literary agent who (read)
_______________ her book. He asked her 7(sign) ______________ a contract with
a publishing house. Catherine was fascinated so she agreed to do so.

Catherine says, ‘I 8(not be) ______________ a writer for very long, and I am
For
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learning all the time. The most important thing that I try to do is to write about examiner’s
use only
characters that I really care about. If I didn’t care about the characters, there 9(be) 1. ___/1

2. ___/1
_______________ no story.’
3. ___/1
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The Eyes of a King (publish) _______________ in 2008 when Catherine
4. ___/1
was 19 years old. The book is the first of a trilogy called The Last Descendants and it 5. ___/1
6. ___/1
was a tremendous success.
7. ___/1
NEW MARKING SCHEME
8. ___/1

9. ___/1
10. ___/1

Corrected by: Total marks in this exercise: ______/10

NEW TASK

C. Fill in the blanks with words from the box. There are four extra words which you do not
need to use.

AFTER BUT INTERESTING JUST

KNEW KNOWN MORE MOST
SAID SINCE THESE TOLD
WHICH WHO

The life of a top children’s author

David Walliams is a man of many talents. Before, he was 1__________ as one of the
main actors in the British comedy series Little Britain. 2__________ now, especially
with children, he is probably more famous as a bestselling author. In fact, some now
say that he is the UK’s 3__________ successful children’s writer, having sold 2.8
million copies of his first books in five years.
Walliams started acting at school. Then he went to university and 4__________ that
he joined the National Youth Theatre. There he met Matt Lucas 5__________ For
examiner’s
became his partner in the Little Britain series in 2003. use only

But it was in 2008 that he signed a contract to write two children’s books. The second 1. ___/1

of 6__________ two books, Mr Stink, won the People’s Book Prize in 2010. The 2. ___/1

books were so popular that he continued writing. 3. ___/1

When he isn’t acting or writing, Walliams has an 7__________ hobby. He swims, but 4. ___/1

not just in his local swimming pool. In 2006, he swam from England to France to 5. ___/1

raise money for charity. 8__________ then he’s also swum about 225 kilometres of 6. ___/1

the River Thames. When he finished, he 9__________ reporters: ‘I think I’ve 7. ___/1
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__________ swum the length of the Thames! I feel quite tired. I think a bath is the 8. ___/1

only water I want to see for quite a while.’ 9. ___/1

10. ___/1

Corrected by: Total marks in this exercise: ______/10

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D. Complete the dialogue below.

Red with embarrassment

Jed: Hi Brad! (1) _________________________________ here? You don’t

usually travel by tube, do you?
Brad: I’m going to the Book Fair. Anthony Horowitz will be at a signing session.
Jed: Dream on! Do you mean the author of Stormbreaker is here in our town?
The Alex Rider series is one of my favourites!
Brad: Yes, he’s promoting Crocodile Tears – his eighth book in the series.
Jed: I know! I finished reading it this week. (2) __________________________
_______________________________________________________ yet?
Brad: No, not yet –the only books I’ve been reading lately are the ones I have for
my exams. (3) Anyway, ________________________________ with me?
Jed: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe another time.
Brad: Come on, Jed! Alex Rider is one of your favourite series! (4) What
__________________________________________________________?
Jed: The thing is... last year I made a fool of myself. I told Catherine Banner that
I loved all her books, especially Eragon.
Brad: You can’t be serious! Eragon’s Christopher Paolini’s novel! (5) What _____ For
examiner’s
___________________________________________________________? use only

1. ___/3
Jed: Well, at first, she looked at me and then she just burst out laughing. I was
2. ___/3
red with embarrassment!
3. ___/3
Brad! Cheer up, Jed! I’m sure that won’t happen again this time! 4. ___/3
5. ___/3

Corrected by: Total marks in this exercise: ______/15

PART II: Reading

E. Read the passage and answer the questions.

Fanfiction
Are you a Harry Potter fan? Did you enjoy The Hunger Games
or Twilight sagas? Would like to write and read new stories about
them? Then you can visit and participate in websites where people
actually do this. Although fanfiction writing has existed for many
years, the internet has had a great influence on this practice.
Nowadays, a lot of stories related to specific books, films or TV
series are created by fans and read worldwide. In fanfiction sites,
writers have numerous possibilities for keeping their favourite stories developing any way
they want. For example, fanfic authors can make a ‘sequel’ with the original characters and
settings. There can also be ‘crossovers’, which are stories where protagonists from different
worlds interact in a new setting, or if the stories happen in similar contexts, they can meet in
a place or date they have in common.

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Moreover, authors can work on their chapters by parts and, while doing so, receive
feedback from other users. These users are called ‘beta readers’. They review the stories
and communicate with the writers by chat, email or any other message format. This system
helps people to improve writing skills as well as the content of their stories. In addition, beta
readers are very useful for those who want to write in a foreign language and have
grammar, spelling and vocabulary corrected.
These online spaces enrich the writing experience and connect people with similar
reading interests, creating a large community of fans who write and share their texts – some
of which may even be published! ‘Kindle Worlds’, for example, is a publication platform that
encourages fans to write fiction inspired by their worlds, and sell it to readers as ebooks on
Amazon.com.
However, while many authors celebrate fanfiction – which they find exciting and
flattering – others are not happy with this practice, which they have called ‘an invasion’.
Anne Rice, for example, author of The Vampire Chronicles, has expressly announced that
she doesn’t allow fanfiction. Instead, she advises her readers to write their own original
stories with their own characters.

1. What can fanfic writers do if they liked a story very much? Provide two examples.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

2. What is a ‘crossover’?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

3. How can fanfiction help somebody who is learning a foreign language?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

4. What can fans of a story do thanks to Kindle Worlds?

_______________________________________________________________________
For
examiner’s
_______________________________________________________________________ use only
1. ___/5
5. Why do some authors dislike fanfiction?
2. ___/5

______________________________________________________________________ 3. ___/5

______________________________________________________________________ 4. ___/5

5. ___/5

Corrected by: Total marks in this exercise: ______/25

THE VOCABULARY TASK HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.

CHECK NEW TASK ‘C’ IN THE EXAM.

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PART III: WRITING

F. Choose ONE of the following subjects and write about 100 words.

1- A BLOG ENTRY: Write a blog entry about a book or an author you like. You may
include the following information:

• The title of the book & the name of the author

• What kind of story it is
• What you like about this story in particular
• General comments on the plot, main characters, etc.
• Who else you think would enjoy reading this story

2- AN EMAIL: Imagine something really embarrassing has happened to you recently.

Write an email to an English-speaking friend telling him/her about what
happened. You may include the following information:

• When and where this happened

• Who you were with
• What happened and how you reacted
• How other people reacted
• How you feel about this experience now

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Grammar & Structures

- Question tags (1A)

- Comparison:
o Comparative adjectives and adverbs (1C)
o Comparative adjectives and adverbs with (not) as…. as (1C)
o Intensifiers much, far, a lot, a bit (1C)
o Superlatives; superlatives with the Present Perfect Tense (4B)
- The Gerund:
o After / Before + ING (2C)
o Gerund (ING) as subject and object (3B)
- Verbs with infinitive or gerund (6C)
o Verbs followed by infinitive with ‘to’: agree, decide, encourage, expect,
forget, help, hope, manage, offer, plan, promise, refuse, seem, want and
would like
o Verbs followed by the gerund: admit, avoid, can’t stand, carry on, deny,
enjoy, fancy, finish, give up, keep, look forward to, miss, not mind,
practise, stop and suggest
o Verbs followed by infinitive or gerunds: hate, like, love, prefer and start
- Defining and non-defining relative clauses with WHO, THAT, WHICH,
WHERE AND WHOSE (4A)
- Conditional sentences:
o 1st Conditional with if and unless (5A)
o 2nd Conditional with would, might, could (6A)
- Future time clauses with when, until, as soon as, before (NOT with by the
time) (5B)
- Reported speech: reported statements, questions, orders and requests and
verbs of reporting: say, tell and ask (7A and B)
- Passive Voice: present and past simple, present and past perfect, present and
past continuous, future simple (9A and B) Modals, gerund and infinitive
NOT included
- Phrasal verbs with UP, ON and AWAY (2B, 4A, 8B)
o Cheer up, give up, make up, pick up, stand up, take up and turn up
o Carry on, catch on, count on, get on, hold on, log on, switch on and try on
o Get away, get away with, give away, go away, look away, put away, run
away and throw away
- Transitive phrasal verbs (6A)
E.g. She picked up the book. She picked the book up. She picked it up.
Ask out, check out, find out, give back, pick up/put down, put on/take off,
switch on/off, turn on/off, turn up/down
- Noun suffixes (-ion/ment/ity/y) (6C)

Tenses
o Present Simple and Present Continuous: Contrast (1A)
o Past Simple + Prepositions during / for (2A)
o Past Continuous and Past Simple with while, when, as (2B)
o Present Perfect and Past Simple: Contrast (1B)
- Present Perfect Simple with for, since, just, already, before, never, ever, yet
(1B, 4B)
- Present Perfect Simple and Continuous with for and since (state and action
verbs) (4C)
- Past Perfect (2C)
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- Future tenses: will, going to, present continuous for arrangements (3A)

Modal Verbs
o Must, have (got) to, need to, needn’t, should, ought to, had better (All
forms: positive and negative; present and past): rules, obligation and lack of
obligation or need and advice (3B)
o make / let / (not) be allowed + INFINITIVE (3C)
o must / can’t / might / could for deductions in the present (8B)

Linkers:

ADDITION CONTRAST LISTING TIME (4D CAUSE AND

(4D) (7C and 10D) (7D) and 8C) CONSEQUENCE
(10D)
And, also, But, firstly, One day, So,
too although, secondly, First, because,
however lastly Then, later because of
on, a few this
days later,
afterwards,
etc.

Communication

- Shopping for clothes (1A)

o E.g. Do you need any help? / Yes, please. I’m looking for ... / Can I try this ...
on? / Have you got this ... in a larger size? / No, thanks. I’m just looking.
/ It’s tight/baggy. / It suits me. / It doesn’t suit me. / I’ll take it. / No, sorry.
It’s not quite right. I’ll leave it.
- Showing concern and expressing reassurance (2A)
o E.g. Are you OK? / Can I do anything? / Can I give you a hand? / Don’t
worry, I’m fine. / What on earth happened?
- Inviting, accepting and refusing with excuses (3C)
o E.g. Do you fancy going ...? / Would you like to go ...? / Yes, that sounds
great. / Thanks. I’d love to. / I’d love to but I’m afraid I can’t. / I don’t
really fancy it. Sorry.
- Reacting to good and bad news (4B)
o E.g. Wow! That’s brilliant/cool/amazing! / How fantastic! / Well done! /
Good for you! / Oh, no! That’s too bad/ miserable! / How terrible! / Poor
you! / That’s a real shame. / Never mind. / Cheer up!
- Making and responding to requests (5C)
o E.g. Do you think I could borrow ...? / Would you mind lending me ...? / Sure.
Here you are. / Thank you. That’s really kind of you. / I’ll do the same
for you one day. / I’d rather not if you don’t mind.
- Asking for and giving advice (6B)
o E.g. What do you think I/we should do? / What would you do (if you were
me)? / If I were you, I’d .../ Have you tried +ing...? / Maybe you’re right. /
That’s a bit drastic/over the top. / I don’t think that sounds very
sensible.
- Telephoning: leaving phone messages (7A)
o E.g. Sorry I’m not around to answer the phone but leave a message and I’ll get
back to you. / Hi, Ryan. It’s Sophie here. / I was just calling for a chat. / I need
to talk to you about ... / Can you ring me when you get this message?
- Apologising for past mistakes: complaining, asking for an explanation,
apologising and explaining and accepting apologies (8A)

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o E.g. I’ve been waiting ages for you. Where have you been? / I’m very sorry. I
couldn’t find ... / I missed the bus. / Never mind.
- Giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing (9B)
o E.g. In my opinion ... / I think it’s brilliant/ terrible/ unfair that ... / I think so
too. / I’m not sure I agree. / No way! (informal) / That’s rubbish
(informal) / How can you say that? (informal) / I take your point. / I see
what you mean. / OK. You win! (informal)
- Giving and accepting congratulations (10C)
o E.g. Guess what! / You’ll never guess ... / Believe it or not ... /
Congratulations! You must be very pleased! / Thanks. I never believed
it would happen. / Rubbish. You worked really hard. / You deserve it. /
Let’s go and celebrate! Lunch is on me.

Vocabulary & Topics

- Great achievements - Landscapes and natural environment

- Challenges - Life stories
- Charity work - Lifestyles
- Communication - Music
- Entertainment: film, music, - Natural world
literature - Problems & solutions
- Extreme weather and natural - Relationships
disasters - Responsibility
- Fame and famous people - Technology
- Fashion: clothes, styles, - The media
accessories and patterns - The news
- Food and kitchen equipment - Transport and travel
- Imagination - TV programmes; reality shows
- Jobs & adjectives to describe
work; work experiences

Writing text types

The options for the WRITING part of AEXALEVI Exams may fall into any of the
following basic categories or text types:

- A blog entry
- An article for a magazine for teenagers / A text for a website
- A story
- A review about a book/film/TV programme/ a video game
- An formal email: e.g. to the local newspaper
- An informal letter
- A formal letter of application for a summer/voluntary job
- A brochure/leaflet describing places.
- A ´how-to´ leaflet (it may appear as a written tutorial on the internet). It should
include

§ a title

§ different sections (with subheadings) and bullet points

o Possible topics:

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§ (giving) advice for people visiting our city

§ advice for passing exams

§ advice for joining a particular social networking site

§ advice on how to look fashionable and trendy

§ advice on how to deal with bullies at school

- A forum/website/wiki comment expressing an opinion (a short article)

Short texts:
- A tweet, a text message and an IM conversation
- A Facebook comment